We’re in the middle of an electric vehicle sales boom in parts of the globe, as the war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused a surge in fuel prices.Sales are especially strong in Europe, where EV purchases have grown 26% so far this year compared to the same period last year, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.But so far, the EV frenzy has not spread across the Atlantic, even though gas prices have risen over 50% in the U.S. since the war began.A year ago, there were still a bunch of government policies in the U.S. pushing carmakers to build more EVs and enticing consumers to buy them. But those policies were stripped away by the Trump administration and GOP-led Congress — no more EV tax credits, and no more fines for companies violating fuel efficiency rules.So the auto industry reconsidered its American EV plans, said Gil Tal, director of the EV Research Center at the University of California, Davis.“The car companies were quick to react and stop production,” he said. Ford, GM, Stellantis, and VW have all since scaled back.That’s partly why U.S. EV sales have lagged behind Europe lately, Tal said. We’re just not making as many of them, and they’re expensive to import.“If you're a Korean car company, for example, or European one, bringing the car to the U.S., you will pay high tariffs,” Tal said. Plus, there’s a strong market for EVs in Korea and Europe.“Europeans, for decades, have preferred smaller vehicles, more efficient vehicles, simply because they pay more for their fuel in the first place,” said Sam Fiorani at Autoforecast Solutions.Americans, meanwhile, still buy lots of big pickup trucks.“And they tend to change their buying habits over time rather than on a quick rise in gas,” Fiorani said.But there are signs some Americans do want more fuel efficient cars, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty at Cox Automotive.“The hybrid is the story we're going to start to see in the next couple of months, and we're already seeing it,” she said.Sales of hybrids rose 36% in March and April compared to the same period last year, she said. Used EVs are selling better too.Jesse Lore has seen that firsthand. He runs the used EV company Green Wave Electric Vehicles in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The year started off slow, but in March, sales took off.“We've gone from concern about what adoption is going to be like to how can we get as many cars ready for sale as quickly as possible,” he said.Because more drivers are coming in, Lore said, fed up with paying for gas to power their commutes.